Autumn and the Moon
November 4, 2009 by Bird
Filed under Autumn, Blog, Flora, Wild London
The last time I posted it was August – I was off on an island adventure and the days were still long, if not especially sunny. If I hadn’t realised that that’s been a long time, the trees on the streets are reminding me – it’s been the most beautiful autumn, the indifferent summer mellowing gently into it, then, Bam! Cool, foggy mornings, crisp nights, short days and the trees igniting in a shower of gold, amber and crimson. We had our annual samhain party, and after the dancing and debauchery and fireworks and fun came the morning and the hangover. One of the best ways to blow away the cobwebs the morning after is to go for a walk, so three of us made our way to Hampstead Heath to admire the autumn colours.
Up past the kite flying crowds on Parliament Hill, down into the gentle sweep of valley below Kenwood House the panorama of of London falls behind us, winks, vanishes and reappears framed between gentle hills then vanishes again as we enter a grove of beech trees. The light is fading, without a tripod I cannot capture this on camera but photography is not the point – this is a special place to all of us and we just come here to stand among the giants and drink in the eerie, glimmering light. The biggest tree in the grove which three people together cannot reach around has already shed its oval leaves and the woodland floor is carpeted three inch thick with them; the other trees are only just beginning to turn. A carpet of beech leaves in the dimness of an autumn or winter twilight takes on an eerie orange pink which the individual leaves, as you can see below, do not possess.
The giant stood bare at the head of the grove, drifts of its own leaves burying its roots and swathing the clefts and fissures of its trunk. Clusters of plump fungi nestled in its bark.
The strengthening wind stirred its upper branches and whipped the smaller trees into fierce motion. The sky darkened. It was time to walk back. 
Twilight is one of my favourite times of day in the city, especially during the shorter days of the year. The cosy warm glow of shop and cafe windows and the weird artificiality of streetlights against a deep indigo sky are a perennial delight to me. Maybe you are surprised that a nature lover like me can take such pleasure in what is essentially light pollution but I cannot help myself; I do love the darkening autumn and winter nights and their cheerful illumination, and there are reasons why I live in a big city, after all. The gorgeous sight of the whole of London spread out and twinkling before us was as ever breathtaking. If you are ever in London on a clear autumn or winter evening there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING so heart stoppingly lovely to be found anywhere else in the city as the view from Parliament Hill. But on this particular night the city and it’s gaudy beauty was upstaged as the racing clouds parted and a brilliant moon, just a little short of full but as big as I’ve ever seen it lit up the deepening sky. It was bright as a spotlight, shining through clouds still faintly tinged with colour from the setting sun, and it cast a glamour over the ponds fringing the heath. A silver glittering path bloomed on the waters surface and faded as the clouds massed, then came brighter than before. All the lights of the city cannot compete or compare to this unearthly beauty.
So nice that you are posting! Absolutely love the photos
Thank you Claire, it’s been too long! I have a lot of catching up to do
Hello Bird..nice to hear from you again. I hope your summer was good, it sounds like it was..I like that you wrote that ‘photography isn’t the point’ because that is how I feel about it. I try to capture the feeling, not the perfect photo, but that moon is the perfect moon photo…Michelle
Michelle, I’m glad you said that because sometimes since I’ve started blogging I’ve noticed that when I see something wonderful a part of my mind gets preoccupied with wether I can photograph it to share on the blog. And really, I don’t want to be experiencing everything through a lens. I’m pretty good at letting things go if the photograph is going to get in the way of the experience, but collecting pictures for the blog is addictive! And sometimes I get all prissy about photo quality but with a decidedly average point ‘n’ shoot to play with they are not always what a photography geek would call perfect. Actually who cares – sometimes that adds to the atmosphere.
Your pictures are both vivid and fascinating – they illustrate your words and get across the feel of the fascinating beauties you discover. The pictures really draw a reader in, and if anyone else is reading this I’d recommend that they go and check out Michelles blog to see this for themselves
Welcome back to the world of blogging! And thanks for sharing your lovely photos. I especially love the moonlight shots.
Thank you Svasti, it’s good to be back!
Hooray! Nice to read you again!
It HAS been a gorgeous Autumn so far, and I see it’s been lovely in your neck of the woods, too. I love brisk walks outdoors after a night of carousing. I also love night panoramas full of city lights. Sigh. A great post to visit!
Autumn has to be one of the loveliest times of the year, and this year we got lucky – the colours have been amazing and there’s been just about enough good weather to get outside and see them. Glad to know that it’s been beautiful there too, I’ve always thought it would be lovely to visit America in the fall.
Hooray! You’re back! And with such a lovely post! I, too, love the golden indoor lights spilling out of windows on dark late-autumn days, inviting us in to enjoy cozy warmth. But as you say — and demonstrate with your beautiful photos — no lights can compare to the moon’s.
Hi Jackie, and thank you! I’m glad it’s not just me who thinks that autumn twilights are so cosy. Hampstead Heath is one of the places in London where you can truly appreciate a full moon – because it’s raised above most of the city lights. Moonlight actually throws a shadow there, and I love moon shadows.
You can’t possibly imagine what emotions your pictures of the heath have stirred up in me. (They are mingled with memories of my dad who was the only Londoner in a family of heathen northerners!) But he loved this place and you have conveyed its beauty with apt grace. Thanks, really loving the moon pictures too.
Goo, I’m glad that I blogged something that touched such a chord. I’m an exiled northerner who fell in love with London grudgingly and entirely by accident; Hampstead Heath is one of the reasons why. I think I completely understand how both you and your dad feel(felt). The Heath is such a special place, when I eventually leave London I will miss it very much. Ex-London friends who visit always want a walk on the Heath, it is a place of healing and happy memories.
Lovely photos. Thanks for taking us along on your journeys.
As always Lana, it’s a pleasure that you come along!
Hello! It is so good to see you back…I missed your walks and photo’s with nature.
You know it is difficult for me to imagine London being so pretty ..
Actually most selflishly I was hoping to hear about the Scillies…but hey ho
Fabulous photo’s…I am quite getting into the fungi stuff, lol. I still am a bit wary of getting an ID, the fungi people seem to be a bit intense, collecting spores and things
Chrissy, I am totally intending to get the Scillies photos and stories up online, it’s all disjointed what with it now being Autumn and those things being summery but maybe that will be nice with the weather getting colder and the nights darker…
Fungi are sooo fascinating and incredibly difficult, I can confidently identify a handful but so many as you say can only be told apart by spores and such impossibly subtle differences – it’s a true study in obsession if you get into it! I’ve found the insect and fungi geeks are similar in that way actually, a casual post of a beetle photograph on a wildlife forum can ignite some lively debate and the pics never quite show the defining characteristics well enough, LOL! I do love it though, that there are such passionate, knowledgable people who want me to know what the green beetle I saw was. I pick their brains and hope some of it will stick.
London has some real surprises up it’s sleeve Chrissy, unlike many big cities it contains large areas of woodland, meadow, wetland even. You can see peregrine falcons in the very centre of town – I once heard one calling somewhere above St Pauls Cathedral. I don’t think I’d have lasted here long if it had been relentlessly urban
Dear Bird, I just recently found all your comments on my own blog and I do want to thank you for all your kind words. I missed your wonderful blog while you were away and I’m so glad to be able to watch and compare how the seasons change in your country and mine.
Jackie, it’s been such a pleasure to discover your blog, it’s me should be thanking you. So… thank you!!!
Hey Bird, you concluded your post: All the lights of the city cannot compete or compare to this unearthly beauty. – so so right. Nice to see you again, and hope all is well with you. Anna
Hello Anna – hope you had a fantastic Christmas and you and yours are well and happy!
Dear Bird ~ This is such beautiful writing. Your photography is more than stunning…the shot of the moon over water is just sublime. Your unique love of nature and the city is so well expressed here.
Just wonderful
xhenry
Thank you so much Henry, your kindness and support is as ever very important to me. Sometimes I feel a bit shy about what I’m doing here – this blog is where I can express my feelings about the natural world and how we are constantly swimming in it no matter where we are, city or country. Though I don’t write about myself here much it feels very intimate sometimes, I’m never sure I can express it just the way it feels to me. But I’ll keep trying!
Oh, how awful of me, Bird! I just saw your lovely comment and rushed over…I meant to get here sooner, but…no excuses. I’ve just been awfully lazy, and I hope I haven’t missed you.
Of course all of your photos here are gorgeous…especially that moon! How did you do it? I came by and read and looked before…lurked, basically…and don’t know why I didn’t go ahead and comment.
I hope your holidays are good and that the snow and ice don’t hold you up too much. I will try to be a better blogger friend next year. I’m afraid I can’t get much worse.
Love to you and R and a Huge Happy Holidays! XoXoXoX!!!
The Slacker aka Holly
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Word Verification: regularly turkey…how’d it know???
Oh Holly, please! You, a slacker? And to be honest what has there been to read around here lately anyway? I know that sometimes when I read a blog, even a favourite one, I can’t always think of anything to say and it took me ages to figure out that maybe it isn’t compulsory
…oh, and the comment verification made me LOL, I’ve never seen such a funny one on this blog!